M/S Viking Glory is the latest addition to Viking Line’s fleet of cruising ferries. In 2022 the ship began cruising on the route from Turku in Finland via Mariehamn in the Åland islands to Stockholm, Sweden. For the passengers on such a cruise ferry, in addition to the practical benefit of traveling from one place to another, they also get a chance to relax and socialize onboard. Besides the passengers, the ship also carries cargo as well as commercial trucks and personal vehicles.
Viking Glory is 220 m long and 35 m wide with a rated gross tonnage of 65,000 tons. It is the second ship in the Viking fleet that uses liquid natural gas (LNG) as its fuel, with the first LNG ship in the company being the Viking Grace, which entered service in 2013.
Fast turnaround in the harbor is very important for these vessels, since income is produced for Viking Lines by keeping its ships moving. Viking Glory is essentially in continuous movement between the Turku, Mariehamn and Stockholm harbors, minimizing the stops at the ports as much as possible. It stays docked for only a few hours a day for off- and on-loading passengers, vehicles and cargo, before heading back to open sea.
Deck machinery winches – for fast, safe connection in harbor
When M/S Viking Glory is in harbor it needs fast and effective winch technology to dock and keep the ship stable – no matter what weather or maritime conditions may arise on the unpredictable Baltic Sea. All mooring, and possible anchoring if necessary, of the ship must be performed without any risk for accidents or failures. To ensure safety for both passengers and personnel, and also for the ship itself, the goods onboard, and the dock structure, tight control of the deck machinery winches which secure the mooring line ropes and anchor chains is required.
On the M/S Viking Glory the control of these mooring rope movements is made possible thanks to the precise stepless winch control of the motors. This reduces the mooring time for safely securing the vessel to the harbor pier – which is absolutely necessary before any off-boarding and on-boarding of passengers, vehicles and cargo can begin.
Built-in drive functions ensure perfect winch movements
This secure, rapid and precise winch control is all made possible by the use of ABB’s flagship and marine approved ACS880 variable speed drives (VSDs) which are highly suited to the marine industry. A total of eight wall-mounted VSDs in the winch cabinets control the winch motors, with powers ranging from 50 to 100 kW, that run the mooring winches.
Mikael Holmberg, ABB’s segment sales manager for cranes and marine winches, explains how the drive works. “The drive has built-in dedicated functionalities that are designed for deck machinery winches. Using these together with its motor control, called the Direct Torque Control (DTC) feature, the VSDs deliver superior and accurate motor and winch control of any movement of the ship when it’s in dock or on anchor. This combination of application and motor control is the key to getting high performance with fewer components used.”
So, after the rope has been tied to the pier, the winch operator on board creates a first pre-tension in the rope using the winch in the hand-mooring mode. This initial tightening is done manually. After that the operator enables the automatic auto-mooring to start working, to keep the ship firmly connected to the pier, with the operation thereafter continuing in a time control interval using the auto-mooring mode.
“By controlling the winch,” continues Holmberg, “the VSD eliminates the need to use an external controller or a PLC, thus reducing costs and making it simpler to use. The auto-mooring function also works without a loadcell in time control mode. Instead the drive itself can calculate and measure how tight or loose the rope is and then, by making use of the DTC function, it adjusts the tension to get the perfect fit, without the need for any external sensors that may be subject to wear and possible failure.”
The VSD is simple to commission and use, and features a robust construction which is based on few components, thus delivering reliable operation all year round, even in the harsh Nordic climates.
The control panel in every VSD in the cabinet also works as a mini HMI display, showing the status and any signals for the winch maintenance people onboard if needed. This feature also makes the next, higher level of digitalization possible since the new control panels with cloud access allow for easy and secure remote support or assistance.
Customer is happy with the winch solution
Jonas Rautelius, Chief Electrician on the M/S Viking Glory, is very pleased with the deck machinery winch drives and how they support fast mooring. “Regulating of the winch speed during mooring is now more accurate and easier to do for the deck personnel that are operating the winches. In addition, mooring is smoother than the old system, which was driven by contactors. We also feel the solution using the VSD is much gentler on the motor, so we expect it to last much longer. Finally, the support from ABB regarding the mooring winches has been really good.”
